ARID ZONE JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT

AZOJETE, March, 2019. Vol. 15(1):1-16

Published by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818
www.azojete.com.ng

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

GPS ANTI-JAMMING TECHNIQUE USING SMART ANTENNA SYSTEMS
G.C. Akobundu1, and A.O. Gbenga-Ilori2*
(1 Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Lagos, Nigeria
2 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria)
*Corresponding author’s e-mail address: gbengailori@unilag.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
ARTICLE INFORMATION This paper presents a global positioning system (GPS) anti-jamming
technique using a smart antenna system. In anti-jamming systems,
adaptive array antennas are used to estimate the direction of signals
Submitted 11 April, 2018 arriving at the antenna and spatially filter the desired signal from the
Revised 26 July, 2018
unwanted signals by adaptively controlling the direction of the
maximum radiated beam. In this study, the uniform linear array was
Accepted 30 July, 2018 used for the smart antenna configuration. The work compared the
performance of non-blind adaptive algorithms with blind algorithms
for adaptive beamforming. Non-blind adaptive algorithm using least
mean square (LMS) algorithm and blind algorithm using constant
Keywords: modulus algorithm (CMA) was studied and implemented for adaptive
Array antennas beamforming while estimation of signal parameters via rotational
CMA invariance technique (ESPRIT) and multiple signal classification (MUSIC)
DOA algorithms were implemented for the direction of arrival (DOA)
ESPRIT estimation. The effect of varying the number of elements in the
LMS antenna array and the required spacing between them was also
MUSIC investigated. Results of comparison carried out using numerical
Beamforming analysis showed that both algorithms performed well for the DOA
estimation, with MUSIC algorithm producing a better direction of
arrival spectrum with little or no minor peaks. For the beamforming,
both LMS and CMA produced maximum radiation in the direction of
the desired signal. LMS placed deeper nulls in the directions of
interference with faster convergence and fewer errors as compared
with CMA that presented errors and was able to suppress the
interference to a minimal extent. It was also shown that as the number
of elements in the array increases, a more directive beam and DOA
spectrum is produced.

© 2019 Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. All rights reserved.

1.0 Introduction
The Global Positioning System (GPS) offers satellite navigation services that are widely used in
aviation and military applications. The accuracy of received GPS signal and jamming prevention
issues are of utmost importance in designing GPS systems due to its areas of critical applications.
It is important to design GPS systems with efficient anti-jamming capabilities so as to protect the
accuracy of received data. GPS is particularly vulnerable to jamming because the receivers are
extremely sensitive in order to receive the extremely weak signals from orbiting satellites
(Esmaeilkhah and Lavasani, 2018; Lang et al., 2017; Mukhopadhyay et al., 2007).
When the jamming signals and the desired signal share the same frequency, the conventional
filtering techniques become inefficient in eliminating jammers. This has led to the study of

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Akobundu and Gbenga-Ilori: GPS Anti-Jamming Technique Using smart Antenna Systems AZOJETE, 15(1):1-16.
ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng
various anti-jamming techniques using adaptive antenna system with direction-of-arrival (DOA)
estimation and adaptive beamforming algorithms. These smart antenna systems are made up of
an array of antenna elements with digital signal processors (DSP) to implement the adaptive
signal processing. The objective is to estimate the direction of arrival of all impinging signals and
adjust the antenna weights to ideally steer the maximum radiation of the antenna pattern
toward the desired signal and to place nulls toward the interfering signals. Therefore, adaptive
antenna systems combine multiple antenna elements with a signal processing capability to
optimize its radiation and reception pattern automatically in response to the signal environment
(Joshi and Dhande, 2014). In a smart antenna system, the optimum weights of each antenna
elements are iteratively determined using algorithms based upon different criteria to give a
maximum gain in the direction of the source signal and placing the null in the direction of the
interference signal (Shivapanchakshari and Aravinda, 2017; Shahab et al., 2017).
These algorithms can be categorized into two classes depending on whether a training signal is
used or not. One class of these algorithms is the non-blind adaptive algorithm in which a
training signal is used to adjust the array weight vector (Joshi and Dhande, 2014; Ali et al., 2011).
Another technique is to use blind adaptive algorithms that do not require a training signal (Rao
and Sarma, 2014; Elkassimi et al., 2017; Udawat et al., 2011).
A lot of work has been done on the implementation of anti-jamming systems using non-blind
adaptive beamforming algorithms. Joshi and Dhande (2014) used least mean square (LMS)
algorithm for adaptive beamforming. They evaluated the effect of the LMS algorithm on its
beamforming capability using normalized array factor and the convergence of its mean square
error (MSE). The effect of varying the number of antenna elements and the distance between
array elements on the array factor and MSE was also evaluated. Ali et al. (2011) authors worked
on adaptive beamforming algorithms for anti-jamming. They studied and compared the
performance of three beamforming algorithms; LMS, optimized-LMS and recursive least square
(RLS) algorithms and concluded that RLS algorithm had the best performance as it provided
deeper nulls in the direction of the signal not of interest (SNOI) and faster convergence.
A few others considered blind adaptive algorithms. Rao and Sarma (2014) analyzed and
compared the beamforming capabilities of LMS, Normalized LMS, Constant Modulus Algorithm
(CMA), and RLS for smart antenna application using three different antenna array geometries;
linear, circular and planar geometries. Extensive comparison was done using these algorithms
and geometries. They also compared the beamforming of LMS and NLMS algorithms using
different inter-element spacing and number of elements in the array and concluded that as the
number of elements increased, the algorithms converged faster. Though an extensive analysis
was done for various beamforming algorithms, implementation of complete beamforming
system involving direction of arrival estimation was not considered.
Elkassimi et al. (2017) proposed the use of algorithm based on zero-forcing (ZF) and minimum
mean square error (MMSE) methods for blind channel equalization. They compared performance
of this algorithm with other adaptive filter algorithms like CMA, fractional space CMA (FSCMA)
and sign kurtosis maximization adaptive algorithm (SKMAA). Udawat et al. (2011), the
convergence characteristics of blind beam-forming algorithm known as least square constant
modulus algorithm (LSCMA) were analyzed. The algorithm was used with Smart antenna systems
(SAS) for improving the performance of a wireless communication system by optimizing the
radiation pattern according to the signal environment. Kundu and Ghosh (2008) demonstrated

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e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

an implementation of real-time adaptive beamforming for code division multiple access 2000
(CDMA2000) reverse link using digital signal processing technique. Simulation was performed
for uniform linear array (ULA) of several elements and they found that algorithm computation
time and accuracy of beam pattern direction were proportional to the number of antenna
elements.
DOA estimation is also a key research area in adaptive array antenna systems. Beulah and
Vigneshwani (2014), focused on the design of a smart antenna system based on multiple signal
classification (MUSIC) DOA estimation algorithm, and adaptive beamforming using LMS. Array
pattern synthesis was achieved using the Dolph-Chebyshev method which is popularly used for
obtaining the weights and current excitation for uniformly spaced linear arrays steered to
broadside. This method produced array pattern with side lobes of equal magnitude and made
use of a class of polynomials called Chebyshev polynomials.
Mukhopadhyay et al., (2007) proposed a new simple DOA estimation method based on the
mechanical rotation of an array plane by small angles. In this method, the frequencies of the
signals impinging on the array must be known. By taking the ratio of these frequencies before
and after rotation of the array plane and comparing with ratio of the cosine function of the angle
of arrival (AOA) before and after rotation, a simple trigonometric equation was obtained for DOA
estimation. Simulations showed that the estimated DOAs and frequencies matched with actual
values. The authors also showed that adaptive beamforming using LMS algorithm can be used
to constructively receive signal with multipath interference.
Very few papers addressed anti-jamming techniques for GPS receivers. In Zhang and Amin
(2012), authors proposed a novel array-based anti-jamming GPS receiver that enables effective
jammer suppression with negligible phase distortion. They pointed out that one of the major
problems with existing blind anti-jamming array signal processing technique is that they
introduce errors in the carrier phase, and developed a technique that achieves GPS signal phase
continuity by using accurate estimation of phase rotated steering vector of the GPS signal. In Chi
(2016), the authors proposed an anti-jamming measurement method based on antenna array.
This method uses array antenna to estimate the direction of arrival of jamming signal through
MUSIC algorithm. The adaptive nulling algorithm based on the linear constrained minimum
variance algorithm is used to eliminate the jamming signals and hold the navigation signal.
According to the above papers, non-blind adaptive algorithms require prior information like the
reference signal and direction of arrival (DOA) of the signal and may not be suitable for GPS
systems. In this paper, the performance of non-blind adaptive algorithm using LMS algorithm
and blind algorithm using CMA algorithm is studied and implemented for adaptive
beamforming while the estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique
(ESPRIT) and MUSIC algorithms have been implemented for DOA estimation purposes. The
purpose is to compare these known techniques and determine the most suitable for an anti-
jamming system in GPS receivers.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. GPS Signal Generation
GPS signal generation is achieved by modulating a carrier frequency with pseudorandom noise
(PRN) codes. The precision code (P-code) and coarse acquisition (C/A) code are used for GPS
and two carrier frequencies which are the L1 that contains both codes and the L2 carrier that is
modulated with only the P-code exist. This paper focused on the L1 signal generation.
3

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Akobundu and Gbenga-Ilori: GPS Anti-Jamming Technique Using smart Antenna Systems AZOJETE, 15(1):1-16.
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Figure 1: Block diagram of GPS L1 Signal Generation (Saab, 2012)

Figure 1 shows the functional block diagram describing the GPS signal generation. The system is
driven by a 10.23MHz clock signal producing a pure sine wave. Multiplying this clock frequency
by 154 gives the L1 carrier frequency (1.57542 GHz). The clock frequency is stabilized to
1.023MHz, which is the chipping rate of the C/A code and applied as the clock signal for C/A
code generation. The P-code is generated at the clock frequency. After code generation, the
codes are combined with the navigation data with a data rate of 50bps through modulo-2
adders. This is accomplished through an XOR operation.
The results of the modulo-2 addition of the C/A code and the navigation data with the modulo-
2 addition of the P-code and the navigational data are supplied to the BPSK modulators (Borre
et al., 2012). The system uses two modulators to achieve an in-phase and quadrature modulation
of the codes, therefore the output of the modulators is two components of the L1 signal with a
90° phase shift between them. The outputs from the two modulators are then summed together
to form the resulting L1 signal.

2.2 Interference Signals Generation

The interference signals used in the simulation was generated using a random process. An
excerpt is given below showing the process and the MATLAB code used. From the extract,
random numbers were generated for the number of interfering signals, iSize. These random
numbers were used to form a matrix of the same size as the GPS signal, data. This is for easy
addition and other matrix operation. The generated signal is assigned a steering vector and
combined with the GPS signal using an AWGN channel to form the received signal.

%% Generate interferer signal

idata = [];
for i=1:iSize
id = randn(1, length(data));
idata = [idata; id];
end

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2.3 GPS Receiver System Implementation

The functional block diagram of the system implementation is shown in Figure 2. It shows that
the system locates the desired signal using the direction-of-arrival (DOA) algorithm, and
continuously tracks it by adaptively adjusting the weights of the elements.

Figure 2: The functional block diagram of the system implementation (Moghaddam et al., 2011)

By using a cost function, the adaptive algorithm computes the appropriate weights that result in
an optimum radiation pattern. The next subsections will consider in details the steps needed to
implement the algorithms used in the functional blocks.

2.3.1 DOA Estimation Using MUSIC

MUSIC algorithm is one of the angles of arrival (AOA) estimation method used in this paper. It is
a subspace-based method and relies on the following properties;
The space spanned by the correlation matrix eigenvectors may be partitioned into two
subspaces; the signal subspace and the noise subspace.
The noise subspace is spanned by the eigenvectors associated with smaller eigenvalues of the
correlation matrix, and the signal subspace is spanned by the eigenvectors associated with the
large eigenvalues of the matrix
The steering vectors corresponding to the directional sources are orthogonal to the noise
subspace. Therefore the product of the array steering vector and the noise subspace is null (zero)
for a particular angle of arrival (AOA).
The process has been extensively studied in previous literature (Kintz and Gupta, 2016; Sit et al.,
2012; Huang et al., 2005) and is summarized in the algorithm described in Algorithm 1.

Algorithm 1: MUSIC Algorithm

Input: Received GPS signal and interference signals.

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: gbengailori@unilag.edu.ng

Akobundu and Gbenga-Ilori: GPS Anti-Jamming Technique Using smart Antenna Systems AZOJETE, 15(1):1-16.
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Output: Direction of Arrival (DOA) of the signals.
Procedure:
1. Collect input samples x tk , k = 1,2,⋯,K and estimate the input covariance matrix;
K
1 1 H
Rxx ≈ x tk xH tk = XX ,
K K
k=1
where K is the number of snapshots.
2. Perform Eigen decomposition on Rxx.
Rxx V = VΛ,
where Λ = diag{λ1 , λ2, ⋯,λN } , and λ1 ≥ λ2 ≥ … ≥ λN are the eigenvalues and V contains all the
corresponding eigenvectors of Rxx.
3. Sort the eigenvalues of Rxx . For N number of antenna elements and M number of signals,
the N − M eigenvalues of Rxx correspond to the smallest eigenvalues.
λ1 ≥ λ2 ≥ … ≥ λM ≥ λM+1 ≥ ⋯ ≥ λN.
4. Form a matrix Vn containing the eigenvectors corresponding to the smallest eigenvalues
of Rxx to obtain the noise subspace.
Vn = [qM+1 ,⋯,qN],
where qi, for all i = M + 1, M + 2,⋯,N , are the eigenvectors corresponding to the smallest
eigenvalue λmin.
5. Compute the MUSIC spectrum as;
1
PMUSIC θ =
θ VnVHn a(θ)
aH
where a(θ) is the steering vector corresponding to the DOA.
6. Find the largest peaks of the music spectrum, ܷ ܵ ( ), to obtain DOA estimates.

2.3.2 DOA Estimation Using ESPRIT

The steps to implement ESPRIT algorithm which has been extensively studied in previous
literature (Pradhan and Bera, 2015; Qian et al., 2014; Gao and Gershman, 2005) is summarized in
Algorithm 2.

Algorithm 2: ESPRIT Algorithm

Input: Correlation matrix of the received signal at the array.

Output: Direction of arrival (DOA) of the signals.
Procedure:
1. Estimate the array correlation matrices Ryy and Rzz from the data samples from two
identical sub arrays. Perform Eigen decomposition and find their eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
For example, the Eigen decomposition of Ryy gives;
Ryy = VΛV,
where Λ = diag{λ1 , λ2 , ⋯,λN} and V = {q1 , q2 ,⋯,qN} are the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Ryy .
2. Form two matrices Uy and Uz with their columns being the M eigenvectors associated
with the largest eigenvalues of each correlation matrix.

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For a ULA, this is achieved by first forming a N × M matrix U which its columns are the M
eigenvectors associated with the largest eigenvalues of the estimated array correlation matrix
Rxx of the full array of N elements. Then select the first L < N rows of U to form Uy and the last of
its L rows to form Uz.

3. Form a 2M × 2M matrix C and perform its Eigen decomposition;

UHy
C = H Uy Uz ,
Uz

C = Vc ΛVHc ,
where Λ = diag{λ1 , λ2 ,⋯,λ2M} with λ1 ≥ λ2 ≥ … ≥ λ2M are the eigenvalues of C while Vc contains
the eigenvectors corresponding to the eigenvalues.
4. Partition Vc into four matrices of dimension M × M as follows;
V V12
Vc = 11
V21 V22
5. Calculate the eigenvalues λm, m = 1,⋯⋯,M, of the matrix − V11 V−1
22
.
6. Estimate the angle of arrival θm using;
Arg(λm )
θm = sin−1 , m = 1,2, ……, M
2π∆0
____________________________________________________________________________

3. Beamforming Methods
3.1 Beamforming Using LMS
One of the adaptive algorithms that will be used to optimize the weights of the array elements
for adaptive beamforming is the LMS algorithm. Figure 2 shows the output of the system
y(n)and it is given by;
y n = wH n x n . (1)
The error between the desired signal d(n) and system output y(n) is given as;
e n =d n −y n . (2)
The LMS weight update equation is given by;
w n + 1 = w n + μ − ∇J n , (3)
where μ is the step size parameter which controls the speed of convergence and lies between 0
and 1.∇J(n) denotes the instantaneous estimate of the gradient which is given as;

∇ = = 1 . (4)

The gradient estimate can simply be obtained by taking the error value for a single input pattern,
squaring it and differentiating with respect to weight w.

∂e2 n ∂e2 n
(5)
∂e n
∇J n = = ∙ ∂w n ,
∂w n ∂e n

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Akobundu and Gbenga-Ilori: GPS Anti-Jamming Technique Using smart Antenna Systems AZOJETE, 15(1):1-16.
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∂ d n −wH n x n
= 2e n ∙ ∂w n
(6)

Since e n = d n − WH (n)x(n),
∴ ∇J n = − 2e n x n . (7)

Putting equation (7) into equation (3), the weight update equation is given by;

w n + 1 = w n + 2μx n e∗ n . (8)

Therefore, the LMS algorithm can be described by the three equations as given below;

y n = wH (n)x(n)
e n =d n −y(n) (9)
w n+1 =w n +2μx n e∗(n)

The logical flowchart for its implementation is shown in Figure 3.

3.2 Beamforming Using CMA

Constant Modulus algorithm is another method used in this study to adjust the weights of the
array elements to an optimal value for adaptive beamforming. CM algorithm implementation is
similar to LMS but differs in its error signal computation since it is a blind method and does not
require any reference signal for its operation. The flowchart for its implementation is shown in
Figure 4.
The cost function to be minimized is given as;
2
J w =E w n Hx n − 1 = E y(n) − 1 2 . (10)

Taking the gradient of the above cost function yields;

(11)
∂J(w) ∂ 2
∇J w = =E y n −1 ,
∂w ∂w

and if u = y n − 1 , then
∂u2 ∂u2 ∂u
∇J w = E ∂w
=E ∙
∂u ∂w
(12)

1 1
∂(y(n)y∗(n)) 2 ∂(w n H x(n)x n H w(n)) 2
= E 2u ∙ ∂w
= E 2u ∙ ∂w
(13)

If w n H x n x n H w n = v, then
1 1
(14)
∂v 2 ∂v 2 ∂v
∇J w = E 2u ∙ ∂w
= E 2u ∙ ∂v
∙
∂w

−1
(15)
v 2 y n x(n)
= E 2u ∙ ∙ x n x n H w(n) = E 2( y n − 1) ∙
2 2|y(n)|

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Figure 3: Flowchart of LMS algorithm Figure 4: Flowchart of CM algorithm

implementation. implementation.

Removing the expectation parameter gives the instantaneous gradient value as;
(16)
y n
∇J w = y n − y n
x n
Equation (16) can then be used to replace the gradient term in the traditional LMS weight
update algorithm of equation(3) to yield;
(17)
y n
w n + 1 = w n − μx n y n − y n
This is similar to LMS but with update error, e, expressed as;
(18)
y n
e n =y n − y n
Therefore the CMA can be described by the three equations set given below;

y n = wH (n)x(n
y(n)
e n = y n − |y(n)| (19)
w n + 1 = w n − μx n e∗ (n)

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: gbengailori@unilag.edu.ng

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4. Results and Discussions

In this paper, for the simulation, it is assumed that the desired GPS signal impinging on a
uniform linear array of eight elements arrives at an angle of 0° and will be estimated using the
DOA algorithms. In addition, there are two interference signals arriving at angles of 50° and
− 60°. Both LMS and CMA are used for beamforming. Table1 gives a complete list of parameters
used for the simulation and their respective values.

Table 1: Simulation Parameters

Parameter Value
Desired Signal Angle 0°
Interference Signal Angles 50° and − 60°
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) 25dB
LMS Step-size Parameter 0.005
CMA Step-size parameter 0.00005
Number of Array Elements 8
Inter-element Spacing 0.5λ

Figure 5 shows the MUSIC and ESPRIT spectrum of the estimated angles of arrival of both the
desired and interference signals. From the figures, it can be seen that both DOA algorithms gave
an accurate estimate of the directions of arrival. Since both DOA algorithms were able to
estimate the correct angles of arrival, only one of the algorithms was used for other results as
they produced a similar response.
The plots of Figure 6 show the radiation pattern and amplitude response of the array output in
the simulations. From the plots, it can be seen that both beamforming algorithms used were
able to give maximum radiation in the direction of the desired GPS signal ( 0° ). In terms of
placing nulls in the directions of interference, LMS algorithm had the best response by placing
deeper nulls in these directions (50° and − 60°) whereas CM algorithm had a shallow null at 50°
and couldn’t place a null at − 60° though a minor side lobe was formed. This is because CMA is
less stable and presented some errors during implementation and as shown in subsequent
results. The figure shows that the algorithms achieved the goal of the system by placing
maximum radiation in the direction of the desired signal.

The plots of Figure 6 shows the radiation pattern and amplitude response of the array output in
the simulations. From the plots, it can be seen that both beamforming algorithms used were
able to give maximum radiation in the direction of desired GPS signal ( 0° ). In terms of placing
nulls in the directions of interference, LMS algorithm had the best response by placing deeper
nulls in these directions ( 50° and − 60° ) whereas CM algorithm had a shallow null at 50° and
couldn’t place a null at − 60° though a minor side lobe was formed. This is because CMA is less
stable and presented some errors during implementation and as shown in subsequent results.

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The figure shows that the algorithms achieved the goal of the system by placing maximum
radiation in the direction of the desired signal.
0
0
-10
-10
-20
-20
-30
-30
-40
-40

|P( )|
-50
|P( )|

-50
-60
-60
-70
-70
-80
-80

-90 -90

-100 -100
-100 -50 0 50 100 150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150
Angle Angle

(a) (b)
Figure 5: (a) MUSIC spectrum of estimated angles of arrival of the signals (b) Equivalent ESPRIT
spectrum.

(a) (b)
Figure 6: (a) Radiation pattern of the system after beamforming (b) Polar representation

Figure 7 depicts the Mean Square Error (MSE) plot or convergence plot for the CMA and LMS
algorithm respectively. It was observed that the LMS algorithm converged to a near-zero value
before 100 iterations whereas implementing the system with CMA presented lots of errors. It
was also observed that the CMA attempted to converge at some point, but due to the discrete
nature of the desired signal as shown later, erroneous results were obtained while tracking of the
amplitude levels is done.

Figure 8 shows the acquisition and tracking curve of the system. It can be seen that the system is
excellent in tracking the reference signal when the LMS algorithm is implemented and there is
no delay in the output of the system to align perfectly with the reference signal. On the other
hand, it was difficult for the output of the system to track and align to the reference signal when
the CM algorithm is implemented. Finally, a phase comparison of the system output and the
reference signal as shown in figure 9 indicates that there is no much difference between the two
when either of the algorithms is used.

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Magnitude comparison of reference and output

6
Mean square error convergence curve
1.5 LMS
LMS CMA
CMA 5 REF

4
Mean square error

Magnitude
3

2
0.5

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Simulation iteration Samples

Figure 7: MSE convergence of both Figure 8: Tracking and acquisition

LMS and CM algorithm curve of the system

Phase comparison of reference and output

0
LMS
CMA
-50 REF

-100
Phase(rad)

-150

-200

-250

-300
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Samples

Figure 9: Phase comparison of the system output and the reference signal

4.1 Effect of Array Elements Spacing on Beamforming

For this part of the simulation, it is assumed that the desired signal impinges on the ULA of eight
elements at an angle of 10°, and also a single interference signal arrives at angle 40°. Figure 10
shows the effect of the antenna array elements separation distance on the radiation pattern. It
shows that the inter-element spacing is an important factor to be considered in the design of an
antenna array system.
Figure 10 (a) shows that when the inter-element spacing is greater than λ 2, especially when it is
greater than or equal to a wavelength (λ), grating lobes appear (at − 55° from the plot) which
degrades system performance. Grating lobes are unintended maximum radiation in other
directions other than the desired direction and occur when array element separation is too large.
Therefore, to avoid this, the element separation should not be equal to multiples of a
wavelength (d ≠ nλ, n = 1, 2, 3, ⋯).
Furthermore, Figure 10 (b) shows that when elements are spaced closely (typically less than λ 2),
mutual coupling effect occurs. This is a situation whereby the radiation characteristics of an
excited array element are influenced by the presence of the others. This usually causes the
maximum and nulls of the radiation pattern to shift thereby causing the DOA and beamforming
algorithms to produce inaccurate results. Therefore, in other to produce the desired radiation
pattern, the elements have to be far enough to avoid mutual coupling, and the spacing should
not be too large to avoid grating lobes. For all practical applications, a spacing of λ 2 is
recommended.

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(a)

(b)
Figure 10: Effect of inter-element spacing on beamforming (a) d = λ, (b) d = λ 8

4.2.2 Effect of the Number of Array Elements on Beamforming

In this performance study, the step size of both the LMS and CM algorithms were adjusted to
0.00005 and 0.000005 respectively to ensure the system produced a good response. The angle
of arrival of the desired signal was maintained at 10°, and that of the interference at 40°.
From Figure 11 and also comparing with Figure 6 where the number of elementsN is eight, it is
observed that as the number of elements in the array increases, the directivity of the array
radiated output increases with multiple side lobes of narrow beamwidth and low power levels.
This shows that a more directive radiation can be achieved by increasing the number of array
elements.

In Figure 12, the number of elementsN is varied between 8, 20 and 50, and it was observed that
as the number of elements in the array increases, estimated DOA spectral beamwidth becomes
narrower, the directivity of the array is enhanced meaning that its ability to distinguish spatial
signals is improved. Therefore an accurate DOA estimation can be achieved by increasing the

13

Corresponding author’s e-mail address: gbengailori@unilag.edu.ng

Akobundu and Gbenga-Ilori: GPS Anti-Jamming Technique Using smart Antenna Systems AZOJETE, 15(1):1-16.
ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng
number of array elements, however, this can increase the data processing and computational
requirements of the system and thereby negatively affecting the system speed.

(a)

(b)
Figure 11: Effect of number of elements N on beam pattern (a) N = 20, (b) N = 50

Figure 12: Effect of number of elements N on DOA estimation using MUSIC spectrum

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Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, March, 2019; Vol. 15(1):1-16. ISSN 1596-2490;
e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

5. Conclusion
This paper focused on the implementation of an anti-jamming system using DOA estimation and
adaptive beamforming algorithms for GPS application. MUSIC and ESPRIT DOA estimation
algorithms, as well as LMS and CMA adaptive beamforming algorithms, were considered in this
study. MATLAB was used to develop these algorithms and to model the desired (GPS) and
interference signals. Simulation results presented showed that for the DOA estimation, both
algorithms are high-resolution algorithms as seen by the accuracy of the estimated direction of
arrival although MUSIC algorithm produced a better direction of arrival spectrum with little or no
minor peaks. Also for the beamforming, both LMS and CMA produced maximum radiation in the
direction of the desired signal. LMS placed deeper nulls in the directions of interference with
faster convergence and fewer errors as compared with CMA, which presented errors and was
able to suppress the interference to an extent. It was also shown that as the number of elements
in the array increases, a more directive beam and DOA spectrum is produced. In conclusion, the
results show that smart antenna system is viable and very instrumental in the development of
anti-jamming systems.

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